I hate to say this, but I completely agree with Barack Obama and his surrogates when they say that many Republicans are taking the President’s words out of context when he said “You didn’t build that.” Before you stop reading–assuming that would make you stop reading–hear me out.

First, I think that by taking his words out of context we hurt our cause. It’s obvious what he meant if you listen to the entire quote, and those who do hear the entire quote will assume that’s what conservatives do — take something out of context to fit our agenda. It also makes it harder to point a finger at Debbie Wasserman Shultz when she does the same exact thing. Read more…

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Unless you’ve been hiding under a big rock, you’ve heard about the ongoing fight in Washington as to whether Congress should raise the US debt ceiling. The Republican’s are holding the line that if we’re going to raise the debt ceiling, we must ensure there are cuts in spending that more than make up for any additional borrowing. They’ve also said that raising taxes is off the table (we’ll see about that, though). The Democrats want to do more with what they like to call revenue increases, which really means raising taxes. They figure if they say that the additional taxes will only be on the “millionaires and billionaires” and “private jet owners”, then most of America will be on board with that. Read more…

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Leaders often have a single issue or event that defines them historically. Napoleon had Waterloo. George W. Bush had Iraq. Now Obama has health care. When a leader has an obsessive focus on one issue, they can often be guilty of ignoring other viewpoints, even when good counter-arguments are made. Through the power of their position and the might of their will they can drown out any opposition. Their closest inner circle can fall victim to “group think”. This can be a recipe for disaster. Our country was not meant to have our most important decisions made by one man, which is why our founders structured our government the way they did. Read more…